April Fools
by MagicalxMinx
Summary: No one should spend their birthday alone.       rating for language.


"Hermione, darling! What are you doing here so early?" George Weasley exclaimed loudly as Hermione Granger strode into the shop he ran with his twin brother Fred.

"Don't play games, George. It's far too early. What do you need? I got your owl at 5:30 this morning requesting I meet you for breakfast." Hermione replied through a stifled yawn.

"Come now, Hermione, can't I just want to see your ever-so-gorgeous face before I begin my workday?"

"No. No, you can't. Now cut the crap, Weasley. I haven't had my coffee yet."

"Alright, here's the deal. As I'm sure you know, today is a very special and wonderful day."

"Today is Wednesday, George." She replied bitingly.

"Not JUST Wednesday, Miss Granger! But Wednesday, April 1st. Which means today is the glorious day that Fred and I turn 27, which is the perfect age between too young to know what fun is, and far too old to be able to enjoy fun." George exclaimed happily.

"What's your point, George? Molly has a dinner planned for Saturday. I've already assured her I would be there…"

"Ah…right, well you see, tonight I'm going out with Katie…and uh…probably not coming back to the flat…and Fred doesn't have any plans, and I know that he'll tell me he doesn't care, and that it's just another day and he can work on stuff for the shop, but no one should have to spend their birthday alone, right? And you're the person for the job! So just write him a quick letter, invite him out for dinner, and don't make the guy spend his birthday alone, yeah? Thanks, Hermione. You're the greatest."

With that George kissed her cheek and shoved her promptly out of the shop.

"What? George?" Hermione heaved a sigh, rolled her eyes, and apparated to her office at the ministry.

Hermione Granger had schedules. That's why her life worked so well. And on Wednesdays, she would go home, cook dinner, read a good book, and then tuck in early for work the next morning.

It didn't really matter that that was the exact same schedule she kept every other day of the week.

She was slamming papers into filing cabinets when there was a brief knocking at her door.

"Hello, Hermione!" Ginny sing-songed as she danced into her best friend's office carrying a bag of bagels and two steaming cups of coffee.

"Oh Ginny, you beautiful girl." Hermione called out reaching immediately for the cup Ginny was handing out to her.

"Long morning already? You seem pretty flustered." The red head mentioned as she sat on the desk in front of her.

"It shouldn't be! It's just that your brother…"

"Ronald? What on earth has he done? I didn't even know he woke up this early.." Ginny mumbled taking a bite of her bagel.

"Oh…no he doesn't…but I'm talking about George."

"George? I didn't even know you talked to George…"

"He wants me to ask Fred to have dinner with me, so that he won't spend his birthday alone, or something like that.."

A flash of something went through Ginny's eyes, but it was gone before Hermione could analyze it.

"Well, that sounds like a great idea! I would do it myself, but Harry and I have plans." Hermione pursed her lips at this response.

"Why on earth would he even want to get dinner with me on his birthday? There are plenty of other girls who I am positive would be more than willing to occupy his attention for the evening." She retorted, gulping her still-too-hot coffee and wincing slightly as it burned her throat.

"Oh Hermione, what's it going to hurt? Besides, he might not even accept your invitation. You don't even have anything to worry about until you send the letter right? No one should be alone on their birthday, Hermione." She said.

"That's what people keep saying…" Hermione replied, but decided Ginny was right. Fred would probably already have a date for his birthday, and there was no harm in sending an invite that would be turned down. Especially since she could turn this around and have George owe her a favor.

And it was always a good thing to have a prankster in your pocket.

So she went over to her desk and pulled out parchment and a quill and began to scribble her note.

"_Fred, Happy birthday. If you're free tonight, we should get dinner to celebrate you being another year older. Love from, Hermione"_

Ginny, who was peering over her shoulder as she wrote, stared at the letter, then back to Hermione, and back to the letter.

"You're not…seriously sending that…right?" she questioned.

"Well of course I am. There's nothing wrong with it. Everything is spelled correctly. There's no reason I shouldn't send it."

"Hermione…it's cold."

"Ginny, it's April, wear a sweater."

The red head stared at her. "Not what I meant."

"Fine. I'll start over."

"_Dear Fred, Happy birthday! I was wondering if you were free for dinner tonight? Love from, Hermione"_

"Much better." Ginny said approvingly.

Hermione merely rolled her eyes, and opened her office owl's cage. "Take this to Fred Weasley, please?" she said offering the owl both the tiny letter and an owl treat, which it gratefully accepted before hooting and flying off.

"Lovely." Ginny said with a smile. "Well, I should go. You've got a lot to do! Have fun at dinner if that happens!"

With that, Ginny left the room, finally leaving Hermione with the peace and quiet she needed to get work done. That is, until her owl was back at her window less than an hour later, reply in hand.

"_Hermione, dinner sounds wonderful. We can meet at 6 p.m. at the shop if that's alright? Fred"_

Hermione sighed quietly. She wasn't expecting him to accept. Not that the idea of spending an evening with Fred was all that terrible, because it wasn't. They were friends. They had, after all, grown up together. Spent holidays together. The twins always knew how to cheer her up. And now it was her turn to cheer him up, on his birthday, no less.

"_6 p.m. is perfect. See you there."_

She didn't bother with anything else on the letter as she sent it away with the owl again.

After her letter she knew she had to crack down with work. Especially if she was going to be out of the office and ready to meet Fred by 6.

It was then that it hit her.

This was Fred's birthday. She had invited him to dinner. He would obviously expect a gift. Not that that was too much of a problem. She had, of course already gotten him and George their birthday presents, but wouldn't it look just awful if she only gave George a gift at the Weasley family dinner for the birthday party?

Not to mention, she really should make a reservation for dinner somewhere, since she didn't fancy letting Fred know that her cooking abilities didn't exactly go much past instant mashed potatoes. And so it was that on her lunch break, this fine Wednesday, she was running all over Hogsmeade Villiage trying to both find a last minute gift, and book a last minute reservation.

When she finally accomplished both of her missions, she was exhausted. She figured it would be rather pointless to go back into work for three hours, only to be too tired to get anything done. She could instead be at home resting until dinner.

So that was exactly what she did. She was the head of her department, and being the head of the Department of Regulation for Elfish Warfare (a department created by her after the war) meant that she didn't really have that much to do, and she could leave a bit early whenever she wanted to. (She just usually never wanted to.)

When five o'clock rolled around, Hermione got ready. By 5:55, she passed inspection and apparated outside of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. Glancing at the door, she saw a sign that read "Sorry! We're closed early because it's our birthday. And I've got a hot date. So does Fred. Not an April Fool's joke. Come back tomorrow. – Fred and George, Owners"

Hermione was laughing at the sign when Fred walked out. "Well hello, Hermione." He said, the grin that was permanently attached to his face seeming only a little bit brighter.

"Hello Fred! Happy birthday." She said smiling at him and opening her arms for a hug.

He hugged back quickly and mumbled a "thanks" into her shoulder.

"Alright, ready for dinner? We have reservations!" she grinned, taking his hand and apparating the pair of them to the nice Italian restaurant in Hogsmeade.

"Blimey, Hermione, how did you get reservations here? It's pretty much booked until next year!"

She was happy to see that he seemingly approved of her dining choice.

"Oh…well there are benefits to being one of the Wizarding Worlds eternal heroes' I suppose. I'm quite sure we'll see in the Daily Prophet tomorrow that this is my very favorite restaurant for 'close, intimate dates' and what not." She laughed.

Fred grinned back at her and opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by their waiter showing them to their table and taking their drink orders.

"So, Hermione, I'm still surprised that you invited me out tonight. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting it." He said, the tone of his voice was something that she couldn't quite recognize, but sounded like a cross between content, and a hint of protectiveness, as if he was positive any moment now she would offer an "April Fool's!" and send him on his way.

"No one should spend their birthday alone…so I thought if you didn't have plans already, I could give you some."

He laughed again and the pair made small talk through dinner.

Hermione had never really noticed how much she enjoyed Fred's company. He was the life of the party, just as he had always been back at school. The entire meal, he kept her laughing with stories from the shop, or making fun of Ron. She was thoroughly enjoying herself, and when it came time to pay the bill, she wasn't quite ready to end the evening.

"Well, I do have a surprise for you at my flat, if you want to join me?" she said as they left.

"Is it cake?" he asked, with a wicked grin. Cake was the twins' favorite food group. Everyone figured it was because it was loaded with sugar, but in reality it had more to do with the fact that cake almost always meant celebration, and there was nothing Fred and George Weasley liked more than celebrations.

"It's your birthday, of course it's cake!" she replied with a laugh as they apparated to her flat.

She fumbled with her keys for a moment and let them in, pointing him to her table to wait for her to pull the birthday cake out of the refrigerator.

"You didn't have to do all of this you know. I mean, I'm thrilled. And I had a bloody good time…you just didn't have to go through all of the trouble."

"It was completely worth it." She said, almost shocking herself when she realized that she meant it.

Fred smiled back at her, his cheeks turning the infamous Weasley red, while she sat the cake on the table. She flicked her wand and conjured a candle that stated "FRED WEASLEY IS 27!" and plopped it onto the cake. With another flick the candle was lit, and she sat in the chair next to him.

"Okay Fred. Make a wish." She said in an almost-whisper.

He looked at her for what felt like eternity. Staring at her face with such an unreadable expression, that Hermione was sure her face was determined to turn as pink as his had been.

And just like that, it was over. He closed his eyes and blew out the candle. With his eyes still closed, he said softly to Hermione: "Do you want to know what I wished for?"

She did. Very much. More than anything she had ever wanted in her life, she wanted to know what he had wished for, and then she would do anything to make sure that wish came true. Instead of that answer, she shook her head 'no'.

"If you tell me, it won't come true." She mumbled just as softly as he had been.

His eyes opened, and all traces of the seriousness that was just in his voice were gone. "Good point. I want this wish to come true. But for now, it's cake time." He was grinning his ever-famous grin again, and Hermione was pretty sure she had whiplash from the quick change of tone.

"Oh, wait! I got you a present though!" she bolted down the hall to her bedroom where she had left his gift after she wrapped it that afternoon.

"I got something else for you and George for the dinner or Saturday, but I couldn't just not give you a present on your birthday! Only, don't tell George, because I only got him the one…"

Fred's eyes had that look again, and it was starting to make her dining room feel incredibly warm.

"Hermione…you really didn't have to get me anything…I mean, you took me out for dinner, you made me cake, and I got to spend my evening with you, I don't really need anything else." Hermione was now far past Weasley red, and was fidgeting nervously with the hem of her shirt sleeve.

"It's nothing special, Fred. Go on, open it." She said breathlessly.

Since when did Fred Weasley have this effect on her? Since when does she look at his lips like they're made of candy? Since when does he make her want to – wait a minute! This was completely bonkers! Here he was, being friendly and wonderful, and she's sitting here having not-so-friendly thoughts about what she would like that wish of his to include.

"A…picture frame? I love it?" He said, questioningly.

Hermione laughed. "It's not exactly a normal, everyday photo frame. It's better. You see, it's practically a portable penseive. All you have to do is think of the memory that you most want to revisit, and it all plays out right there in the frame. It's really advanced magic, which is what made me think of you…"

Fred was staring at it intently, and together they watched a fast paced play-by-play of the evening's events from when Fred met Hermione outside of the shop to the moment she handed him his gift.

"Hermione! Wicked!"

She beamed at him, pleased that he was satisfied with her gift before she dished out a large piece of the cake for him.

"I think that I should confess something…" she started.

There was that damn flash in his eyes again. This time it seemed readable…it looked an awful lot like hope was flashing around in those amazing blue eyes of his.

"Yeah?" he asked, his voice quiet and ever-so-slightly husky.

She shuddered at what his voice was doing to her. "Uh…the cake. I didn't make it. I bought it. I'm a pretty terrible cook." She said, trying to force her tone to be light and conversational.

"Right…well, either way it looks delicious!" he took a bite of the cake and grinned at her.

Did she just swoon? Hermione Granger does NOT swoon.

"Uh…Hermione? Are you alright?" Fred asked.

"Oh! Yes! Sorry, I was just…daydreaming I guess." She admitted with a blush.

Fred's grin was downright wicked now. "Oh, daydreaming were you? And what, exactly was the topic of this daydream?" he asked suggestively, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Although she didn't think it was possible, he blush turned darker.

"Oh, uh, nothing really. Just dreaming about…uh, work and such…" she replied sheepishly.

"Was it about a bloke, Granger?" he whispered, his mouth close to her ear, which was doing NOTHING for her nerves.

But then Hermione decided she had to play it cool. This was, afterall, her home. She got the upperhand here. No one else. She was a big girl now, and she knew how to play the game.

"Alright, Fred. You caught me. It was about a boy. A completely charming, wonderful boy, who I've been hopelessly in love with for ages. Tragically though, I've yet to tell him, so all I have to work with are my day dreams of him." Hermione stated her voice also in a whisper, never pulling away from the closeness Fred had created.

"Well love, I think you should tell him. Turn those day dreams into a reality." He muttered directly into her ear, his lips grazing the lobe as he spoke to her, creating feelings she wasn't even aware existed.

"Oh Fred! Do you really think Charlie feels the same?" Hermione asked, a grin on her face as she spoke.

Fred pushed away from her, his eyes dark with anger. "Charlie? Blimey, Hermione, what the fuck are you playing at? You invite me out to dinner at one of the nicest places around, you get me this bloody wonderful present, you got me _cake_, you let me think you…you let me think you had feelings for me. Just so you could ask if I thought CHARLIE, my brother, my BLOODY _brother_, has feelings for you. What the hell kind of person does that to someone on their birthday, Hermione? Maybe you don't know that I've been mad for you since sixth year, but you had to have guessed there was _something_!"

Hermione stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open, as he dropped his confession on her.

"Fred…I…"

"Just forget it. Thanks for dinner. Tell Charlie you love him. I'm sure he'll feel the same. He'd be bloody crazy not to. I've got to go."

And with that, he was gone. Just like that. That was most certainly NOT how the evening was supposed to end.

At this point, she had two options. One would be to go on and do nothing about what had just happened. Pretend Fred hadn't made that confession, pretend she hadn't told him she was in love with his brother, even though she was kidding when she said it. Or she could go find him, explain it was a joke and that she DIDN'T have any feelings for Charlie that were anything exceeding brotherly. But she would still have to address his confession. Because if she went and found him tonight, there would be no way to pretend his speech wasn't made.

She needed to think. She needed to figure out what she wanted to do. Did she feel the same as Fred?

No, she was sure her feelings weren't that strong for the boy. But he was fun. And she did have a fantastic time with him tonight. And maybe she wasn't hopelessly in love with him, but she couldn't deny the way he made her feel with his breath in her ear and his lips on her skin, even if it was only due to the closeness.

No, there was no denying that she had SOME feelings for him.

And if she went to him tonight, her whole life would change. All she would have to do would be to find him and kiss him, and they could be together. Just like that. She could figure out if maybe she did love him as much as he loved her. She could experience even more nights like tonight.

With that in mind, she apparated to his flat and knocked on the door.

Fred opened it, glared at her, and went to slam it closed again.

"Fred, no, wait." She said, sliding into the door before he could close it.

"What, Hermione? What could you possibly say that would make this better?" he asked, his eyes still as dark as before.

"April Fool's."

He concentrated on her for a moment, letting the statement sink it.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean: April Fool's. You and George aren't the only ones who can play a trick. I don't love Charlie. I hardly even know Charlie. He's practically family, whether I know him well or not, but he is not the star of my day dreams. As it so happens, as of lately, the star of my day dreams is standing directly in front of me. And earlier I was promised that we could make those day dreams into reality…and I would rather enjoy giving that a shot…"

"Hermione, if you're pulling my leg right now…I don't know what I'll do, but it will probably involve me exploding…"

"This time I'm serious, Fred Weasley." She said with a grin as she stood on tip toe and kissed the boy in front of her.

"Happy birthday, Fred." She muttered against his lips.

"My wish came true." He whispered back, grinning as he pressed another kiss to her lips.

A/N: Ohhhhhhhh hooooorayyyyyy! It's been so terribly long since I've written anything Harry Potter. 3 The release of the movie made me put aside my novel writing for a weekend and concentrate on this. I've missed it terribly. And as it so happens, I am INCREDIBLY proud of this. Reviews are welcome, and appreciated. :) Hopefully I'll be back on the writing scene a little bit more now that I've gotten this one out of the way!


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